Naruto: Lost In Kishimoto - Revenge [Book 2]

Chapter Thirty-Two: What Do You Want?

Sasuke POV

As the days progressed, news of Beths improvement spread amongst the shinobi of Konoha. Hinata had organised to see Beth every few days, with her visiting me and giving me updates every so often on how Beth was getting along. Hinata had revealed that Beth, although quiet and disjointed in the way she responded to certain things, was improving, with her becoming more and more lively, asking about certain people with peaked interest. Hinata revealed that she often asked about Kakashi sensei and Naruto, as well as Gaara and Tayuya.

Kakashi sensei had debated whether or not it was a good idea for him to see Beth, deciding against it with the point that it might risk her falling back into her unresponsive state. Despite his calm demeanour I questioned whether Kakashi sensei was truly thinking of Beth mental health or whether he was scared to face Beth. However, I expected that Kakashi sensei wouldn't have gotten much from Beth even if he dared visit. Sakura had tried, after hearing news of Hinata's success, to speak with Beth but unfortunately had no luck gaining a response. Naruto too had visited, a visit that went much the same way, returning to Ichiraku Ramen with a deflated expression stating Beth didn't even so much as look at him.

Hinata, Chouji and Shikamaru had been the only people who had managed to get Beth to do anything other than stare at a wall. I felt myself yearn to speak with Beth, to see her, to hold her in my arms, to beg her to forgive me for the pain I'd caused her. But I knew better then to hope for such things. She still wasn't sleeping and the news of losing sight in her right eye had only just sunken in a few days ago, Hinata claiming she had started to cry softly to herself as she looked at the eye in the mirror, the bandage removed. I had been told that the eye looked, for the most part, completely normal with the exception being that the colour of the iris, originally a bewildering crystal blue, had changed to a light grey. Her pupil still reacted to light and the eye would still move in unison with the alternative eye as if mirroring its path of sight. In other words, essentially it was almost impossible to tell that she was blind in her right eye.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's voice hit me instantly, causing me to stumble slightly as I made my way up the stairs of my apartment building, the setting rays of sunlight flooding through the glass windows in the stairwell. Sakura was making her way up behind me, her expression melancholy. "Have you spoken to Hinata today?" I hadn't. Although I expected that there were no new developments to inform me of since Hinata's last visit and as such wasn't interested that much.

"No. I haven't." I replied, gesturing Sakura inside my apartment as I opened the door. Thanking me as she entered, Sakura moved to the lounge where she sat down whilst I continued through to the kitchen to obtain a glass of water, my throat dry.

"I don't understand." She continued, her voice tired. "I don't understand why she'll speak with Hinata, Shikamaru and Chouji, but she won't speak with Naruto and I." I didn't find it odd at all. Although she was definitely closer with Naruto then she was with Shikamaru and Chouji, I supposed there were other things stopping her from speaking with Team seven. 

"She's been through a lot. Give her some time." I replied, moving back into the lounge area. "She's improving, isn't that enough?" Sakura sighed before nodding her head slightly.

"I suppose. It's just that... we spent so much time trying to find her. We were the ones who were hurt the most when she left the village. You'd think she'd want to speak to us first..."

"Yes, we were the ones most directly affected by her leaving, and maybe that's the reason she doesn't wish to see us. We'd be the people most likely to remind her of what she's been through and right now that might be too much." Despite what I was saying, I had similar thoughts to Sakura. I wondered why she didn't wish to see Kakashi sensei, a man who had almost been like a father figure to Beth, or Naruto whom Beth connected with almost instantly. And although I hated myself for obsessing over it, I wondered why she didn't wish to see me. Why she hadn't asked to have a meeting with me in the four weeks she had been back in Konoha.